Hosea 5:1-15 (CLICK HERE FOR BIBLE VERSES)
Hi GAMErs!
Today’s passage is Hosea 5:1-15. Let’s go!
Hosea 5:1-7 (NIV)
1 “Hear this, you priests! Pay attention, you Israelites! Listen, O royal house! This judgment is against you: You have been a snare at Mizpah, a net spread out on Tabor.
2 The rebels are deep in slaughter. I will discipline all of them.
3 I know all about Ephraim; Israel is not hidden from me. Ephraim, you have now turned to prostitution; Israel is corrupt.
4 “Their deeds do not permit them to return to their God. A spirit of prostitution is in their heart; they do not acknowledge the LORD.
5 Israel’s arrogance testifies against them; the Israelites, even Ephraim, stumble in their sin; Judah also stumbles with them.
6 When they go with their flocks and herds to seek the LORD, they will not find him; he has withdrawn himself from them.
7 They are unfaithful to the LORD; they give birth to illegitimate children. Now their New Moon festivals will devour them and their fields.
On verses 1-7: Hosea brings a message from the LORD to the priests and all of Israel (v1). Calling Israel by the nickname Ephraim, the message is that Israel’s sins and corruption are not hidden from God (v3). Because of their deeds and their failure to acknowledge God, Israel cannot return to God (v4). The Israelites have in them “a spirit of prostitution” (v4), the LORD says. In other words, they have a propensity to keep selling themselves and giving themselves to sin, all for wages that do not satisfy and that ultimately lead to shame, distress and separation from God. Even if they try to seek the LORD by sacrificing flocks and herds, they will not find Him because of their sin (v6a). Because of the people’s sin, God has withdrawn His holy presence from His people (v6b). The idols whom the Israelites would bring them prosperity, represented in verse by their new Moon festivals, will actually be their downfall (v7).
Likewise, nothing in our lives is hidden from God’s sight. God knows us. God knows how our sins separate us from God. No matter how much we seek God or sacrifice to Him, we cannot reach God and have no access to His holy presence. That is the destructive effect of sin and idolatry in our lives.
Hosea 5:8-14 (NIV)
8 “Sound the trumpet in Gibeah, the horn in Ramah. Raise the battle cry in Beth Aven; lead on, O Benjamin.
9 Ephraim will be laid waste on the day of reckoning. Among the tribes of Israel I proclaim what is certain.
10 Judah’s leaders are like those who move boundary stones. I will pour out my wrath on them like a flood of water.
11 Ephraim is oppressed, trampled in judgment, intent on pursuing idols.
12 I am like a moth to Ephraim, like rot to the people of Judah.
13 “When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah his sores, then Ephraim turned to Assyria, and sent to the great king for help. But he is not able to cure you, not able to heal your sores.
14 For I will be like a lion to Ephraim, like a great lion to Judah. I will tear them to pieces and go away; I will carry them off, with no one to rescue them.
On verses 8-14: In these verses the LORD announces that judgment is coming to Israel for their sins. God promises to pour out His wrath on His people like a flood (v10). Like a moth consumes wool, like rot in a house or in food (v12), God will cause Israel and Judah to be “laid waste” (v9). His people will “oppressed, trampled in judgment” (v11), and torn to pieces “with no one to rescue them” (v14).
To me what is most incredible is how God would carry out this judgment. For if you read these verses from the lens of the entire Bible, you’ll find that God executes all this judgment not on the people who were guilty of sin so as much as on God’s own incarnate Son. Jesus represented perfect Israel and bore the punishment for all of Israel’s sins and our sins too. Jesus would be the one “oppressed, trampled in judgment” and torn to pieces with no one to rescue him. That is why Isaiah 53:5 says “But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.” By taking on the punishment we deserve and dying for us, Jesus made it possible for us to be forgiven, to return to God and to no longer be separated from Him. Even in executing His just judgment, God showed His incredible mercy and sacrificial love.
Hosea 5:15 (NIV)
15 Then I will go back to my place until they admit their guilt. And they will seek my face; in their misery they will earnestly seek me.”
On verse 15: The reason God executes this judgment on God’s people is so that they would ultimately return to Him. That too is the mercy of God. It’s like He slams the door and then opens it wide again so that we can come in. Now God waits for us to respond to His mercy expressed in Jesus Christ.
So here in Hosea 5:1-15 we see an outline of the Gospel: how we were separated from God because of our sins (v1-7), how God executed His judgment (namely, on His Son Jesus instead of on us) (v8-14), and how God now waits for us to respond to God’s mercy and return to Him.
Father thank You that when we had sinned against You, in Your justice You judged our sin and yet in Your mercy You let that judgment fall upon Your own Son instead of us so that we could be forgiven and return to You. We stand in awe of Your amazing mercy. In Jesus’ name, AMEN!
Copyright © 2021 Justin Lim. All rights reserved.
